Gruesome murder or skin allergy?

The body of a 79-year-old woman was found in her Prabhadevi residence with mysterious marks on her face; cops say they could be from a struggle, or a dermatological condition she had

The discovery of a 79-year-old woman’s body in her Prabhadevi residence has put Dadar police in a quandary. The woman had some struggle marks on her face, which suggest murder, but the cops haven’t yet been able to determine if they should be attributed to a skin allergy she had while she was alive. The police are awaiting the autopsy report before they determine if the woman was a victim of a gruesome murder.

What killed her? Manisha Aadi’s death was discovered when her neighbours realised that she hadn’t emerged from her flat for some days. They used a spare key to enter her apartment and discovered her body. Pic/Satyajit Desai

Manisha Subhash Aadi (79), a resident of Omkar Society, Prabhadevi, Dadar (West), would live alone, after her husband and daughter both passed away. Manisha’s daughter, Neeta Joshi, died four years ago. “The death was discovered after Manisha’s neighbours realised that she hadn’t emerged from her flat for some days. Newspapers were also piling up outside her door. They entered the apartment using a spare key. This is when they found her lying on a chair,” said Jayendra Sawant, assistant police inspector of Dadar police station.

“Manisha has some marks on her face that look like struggle marks, but we have also learnt that she had skin allergy, which can cause such marks. After preliminary examination, it looks like she had died 24 hours before the discovery, as her body had started to decompose. The caretaker Chintamani Gawad left for Baroda four days ago, and we are trying to get in touch with him as well. Nothing has gone missing from the house,” said Sawant.

Manisha’s family members, however, believe that she was killed. “We have called the police because we suspect she was murdered and we want the police to investigate her death,” said one of Manisha’s kin, who refused to divulge his name. The building Omkar apartments was also going into redevelopment soon, said the police.